Dr Karisha George

Karisha Kimone George began her tertiary education in Trinidad and Tobago completing her undergraduate in Psychology and Sociology at the University of the West Indies. She then came to the United Kingdom to complete her Masters in Applied Forensic Psychology and PhD in Psychology at the University or York.

Her PhD explored the cognitive processes in which students engage when coping with the demands of university life, and how these processes influence their capacity to adjust and flourish while at university.

She came to De Montfort University after completing her first Post-Doctoral position at Newman University in Birmingham, UK, again exploring the impact of thinking patterns on well-being, but in this case, her thinking patterns of interest were the complexities with which individuals conceptualised God. She has entered De Montfort University as a Lecturer on the B.A. Health Studies and B.Sc. Health and Well-being in Society programmes.

Her favourite word is 'predicament', but only when spoken in exactly the same manner as John Travolta in 'Face Off'.

George, K. (2014). “It’s not what happens to you, but how you think about it: Exploring the cognitive processes underlying resilience following adversity” in Fox, R. and Monteiro, N. Pain without boundaries: Inquiries across cultures. The Inter-Disciplinary Press Ebooks.

• Resilience: adaptation to life experiences and trauma
• Thinking patterns: understanding the impact of thinking patterns and their complexity such as meaning making or negative/positive thinking
• Religiosity: exploring the impact of conceptualisations of Gods/deities on mental health and well-being
• Narrative approach: exploring what individuals’ narratives can tell us about their levels of well-being
• Protective factors: understanding the meaning making processes through which protective factors buffer individuals during times of stress
• Criminal behaviour: examining the relationship between mental illness and criminal behaviour

Health Psychology

Research methods

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Psychology Research: 2010 – 2015 University of York

Supervisors: Dr. Jo Clarke and Professor Andy Ellis

Thesis title: “Resilience in academic stress: Exploring the role of cognition in how students adjust to life at the University of York”

Overview of research: My thesis explored the cognitive processes that influence student adaptation to university life. In particular, it evaluated how finding meaning and negative/positive thinking styles impact students prone to mental illness as they adjust to university life. My work incorporated both qualitative analyses (e.g., content analyses) and quantitative analyses (e.g., factor analyses and path analyses) in order to discover how these thinking styles were influencing students’ levels of resilience as they progressed through their university life.

Master of Psychology, Applied Forensic Psychology (Merit) 2009 – 2010 University of York

Supervisor: Dr. Cynthia McDougall

Thesis title: An exploration of the factors which predict pre-programme attrition among offenders.

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Psychology and Sociology (1st Class Hons.): 2005-2008 University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad (BPS GBC Accredited)

Thesis title (Psychology): A comparison of the well-being of elderly living in nursing homes compared to those not living in nursing homes

Thesis title (Sociology): An examination of the social rules regulating pedestrian behaviour

Psychological and Sociological Theories of Health and Illness (Year 4)

Psychological Aspects of Health (Year 5)

Introduction to Social Research Methods (Year 4)

Applied Social Research (Year 5)

George, K., Cheng, Z.H & Sharp, C. (2017). Exploring the impact of God complexity on spiritual struggles and well-being. Paper presentation at The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) 2017 Annual meeting, Washington, DC.

George, K., Sharp, C. & Cheng, Z.H (2017). Exploring the relationship between God complexity, spiritual struggles and well-being. Paper presentation at The International Association for the Psychology of Religion (IAPR) 2017, Hamar, Norway.

George, K., Leicht, C., Sharp, C. & Elsdon-Baker, F. (2017). The development of a multidimensional measure of the perceived relationship between science and religion. Paper presentation at Science in Public Conference, 2017, Sheffield, UK.

George, K., Leicht, C., Sharp, C. & Elsdon-Baker, F. (2017). Exploring the perceived relationship between science and religion among agnostics, atheists, and theists. Paper presentation at New Perspectives on Science and Religion Conference, 2017, Manchester, UK.

George, K., Sharp, C. & Cheng, Z.H (2017). Establishing the validity of the God complexity measure. Poster presentation at The Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX.

George, K., Leicht, C. & Sharp, C. (2016). Can scientists be religious? Examining impressions of religious scientists using a counter-stereotype framework. Paper presentation at the British Psychological Society (BPS) Social Section Annual Conference, Cardiff, UK.

George, K., Cheng, Z.H & Sharp, C. (2016). The Development and Psychometric Properties of the God-Complexity Task. Paper presentation at The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) 2016 Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia.

George, K., Sharp, C. & Cheng, Z.H (2016). God complexity: Conceptualising the divine. Poster presentation at The Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) Annual Convention, San Diego, CA.

George, K., Sharp, C. & Cheng, Z.H (2016). How do people think about God? The development of a social cognitive measure of God complexity. Poster presentation at The British Psychological Society (BPS) Annual Conference, Nottingham, UK.

George, K. (2013). It’s not what happens to you, but how you think about it: Exploring the cognitive processes underlying resilience. Paper presented at a ‘Making Sense of Pain’ conference. Prague, Czech Republic.

George, K. (2012). Comparing the role of automatic and longer term cognitive processes. Poster presented at a British Psychological Society Social Section Annual Conference, Edinburgh, UK.